We’ve gone through tips for interviews and candidates but how about tips and strategies for recruiters?
Here are 8 tips!
1. Use the Internet and social media to find the right candidates.
Yes, it sounds obvious but with society today, all recruiters and recruiting companies definitely should take advantage of the endless opportunities with the Internet and social media. Use your website, use LinkedIn, Facebook, utilize their groups and remember to use search engines. You can use LinkedIn and Facebook to search for and connect with people whose skills, education, and interests match your open positions.
TIP: Use advanced Google search strings such as “site:linkedin.com CPA San Jose, CA” and that will pull up all the profiles on LinkedIn that match your criteria- in this case all CPAs in San Jose, California. This trick can reveal hidden candidates on any social networks.
2. Schedule time with the candidate.
There is so much information you could give the candidate but you should never give it all off the bat in case your candidate is busy. Remember to ask if it’s a good time to talk and find a time that works best with the candidate to have a conversation. Make sure to mention approximately how long the conversation can be so the candidate can prepare to return to your message or call you back accordingly.
3. Don’t jump off the phone or give false hope.
If you realize that the candidate may not be right for the job, you should still engage in the conversation or else you will seem unprofessional. The same can go with the opposite- don’t give false hope for landing the job.
4. Chase down the unrecruitable.
Sounds crazy but Robert Friedland, founder and president of Essential Human Capitol asks, “Tell me about the candidates who I have zero chance of bringing to the table.” Friedland wants to know who is extremely happy in their current job, well compensated, and has no reason or time to consider his position. Although it’s counter intuitive, it produces excellent results, he says. In one case, Friedland provided four exceptional candidates who were way beyond his client’s expectations. Three rejected the opportunity for the security of their current job, but the fourth accepted. “The rising star who is disinterested today may be a motivated candidate next week.”
Think about it, some people look for change in their every day life and if you have a good opportunity, those candidates at the top may want to grasp it. They have so much experience and they’ll only gain more experience at another job.
5. Find the best people first and train them after.
If your candidate has the right attitude and proves to have the ability to gain the skills needed then its okay if he has little experience in he field you’re looking for. As long as your gut feeling says that he fits the position and has the right performance. Everyone has to start from somewhere.
6. Don’t judge solely on a resume.
There will be a time where you have a candidate with an amazing resume but there’s a negative association with him in your head. Sometimes you know why, sometimes you don’t, but if there were complications in the past, the chances are that there will be complications again. The same applies vice versa, someone with the best potential might have an ordinary or less than average resume.
7. Mention benefits.
Mention any benefits the company offers. You’ll never know how much the information could be of use to your candidate. Maybe your candidate would rather take a bus and the company offers free shuttle/bus services.
8. One word: referrals.
If you’ve had a good experience with a candidate, ask if they have a friend that would fit another job position you have open. When someone refers a person, they usually feel a bit of responsibility and wouldn’t refer someone that they feel like wouldn’t fit the position or else they would look bad as well.
-Leslie Tran
Intern at Ryzen Solutions